Trump and Putin’s Bromance Is Off to a Great Start

Left, by Alexander Aksakov, right, by Sarah Rice, both from Getty Images.

After months spent dismissing criticism of his decidedly pro-Russia platform, Donald Trump wasted no time cozying up to Vladimir Putin upon winning the election. The president-elect and the controversial Russian president are already nurturing what appears to be a budding friendship, having engaged in not one, but two exchanges in the less than a week since the real-estate mogul’s unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton.

After sending Trump an initial congratulatory telegram last week, Putin reportedly called the New York billionaire on Monday to congratulate him again and discuss working to “normalize” the increasingly strained relationship between the two countries. The president-elect’s transition team [confirmed the call] (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxQBXfSXAAAXmj-.jpg) and added that the "two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years.” Specifically, Trump and Putin discussed “the need for joint efforts in the fight against the common enemy number one—international terrorism and extremism,” according to a Google translated Kremlin press release.

Trump continuously stoked speculation throughout the tumultuous presidential election that his campaign was either aligned or receiving help from forces within Russia—fears that deepened when alleged Russian hackers intervened to hack both the Democratic National Committee and the private e-mail account of Clinton’s campaign manager, leading to a torrent of negative headlines about the Democratic nominee. Trump himself also repeatedly offered unusually sympathetic words for Russia and Russian foreign policy aims, breaking with the Republican establishment in its decades-long antagonism toward the rival superpower. The former reality-TV star first sparked an international outcry this summer when he suggested that, if elected, he would not necessarily come to the aid of U.S. allies in Baltic in the event of a Russian invasion, threatening the 67-year-old NATO alliance. He then routinely praised Putin’s leadership and deviated from the Republican Party line by advocating Russian policies in the Middle East and Ukraine. Last month, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reiddisclosed that the F.B.I. was investigating ties between the Russian government and Trump’s top advisers. (The Trump campaign and Putin have both denied any wrongdoing.)